Members of both the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame, Vince Gill and Reba McEntire performed together Saturday during the Opry’s 4,933rd consecutive Saturday night broadcast. Gill was inducted in the Grand Ole Opry on August 10, 1991 and McEntire became a member of the Opry on January 17, 1987.
“Every time I see you, I feel like I’m home. You’re like family,” shared Gill to his longtime friend McEntire. During their Opry performance the pair exchanged personal experiences of working together over the years and their special bond as fellow Okies. Both artists performed several of their biggest hits including Gill’s “What The Cowgirls Do” and “Whenever You Come Around” as well as “The Price of Regret” in honor of Civil Rights Leader and Congressman Senator John Lewis. Gill also sang “Little Brother,” a song he’d written about his friend of 50 years, Benny Garcia, who passed away in May. McEntire opened with “How Blue,” before adding “Back To God,” and “Is There Life Out There”, closing the night with “Fancy.” Together the Opry members sang their #1 duet “The Heart Won’t Lie,” a song that also made Country music history with its accompanying cinematic military-themed music video.
The two Oklahoma natives met in Nashville in 1988 when Gill sang background vocals on McEntire’s self-titled studio album, Reba. In 1990, the pair recorded their first of many duets, “Oklahoma Swing,” the second single from Gill’s breakthrough album, When I Call Your Name.
Next Saturday, July 25 EMI Records Nashville’s recording artist and star of NBC’s hit “This Is Us,” Chrissy Metz and multi-Grammy and Dove award winner, Gospel Music Hall of Fame member CeCe Winans as well as one of the most recognizable voices in country music, Tracy Lawrence, will step in the circle for the Grand Ole Opry’s 4,934th consecutive Saturday night broadcast. Metz’s appearance will mark her Grand Ole Opry debut.